Video editing software?

[Grateful Diver]

I'm thinking to branch out to video ... and knowing next to nothing about it (except that my camera does a reasonably good job of it) I'm looking for some information on video editing software.

What do you use?
What do you like/dislike about it?
Knowing what you know today, would you buy it again?
Why?

What features should someone just getting into video look for?

There seem to be a lot of reasonably-priced software packages available ... I'm just looking for some information before choosing one.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Dusty2]

Bob I am no expert on video but there are several good ones that can be downloaded for free trial before buying and I would definatley consider try before you buy. Another good source of info is go to www.cnet.com and check their reviews. They give a editors review and users ratings on products and have a large list of downloads you can try.

[H20doctor]

i use Vegas Pro HD 12 ...

[coulterboy]

If you're still using that T2i, it really does good video on land. Anxious to see how you produce your dive vids in the future.

[ljjames]

Are you using mac or PC?

[dphershman]

I use Adobe Premiere Pro on both my Mac at home and PCs at school. I haven't used Final Cut, but what I hear from folks is that a lot of people are unhappy with its latest version and are switching. My own experience is that Premiere is getting better all the time. If you like Adobe Photoshop you can get the latest Photoshop and Premiere together in a suite package called 'Adobe Production Premium'.

Dan

[spatman]

Are you using mac or PC?

Bob is a PC guy.

[Jeff Pack]

the guy that manages tacoma UWS did a small video class sometime ago, but I dont recall the video editing software he used.

Not expensive, had reasonable effects and transitions. You might contact him.

[H20doctor]

i will trade video classes , and editing lessons for planned scooter dives Bob ..

[airsix]

Adobe Premiere Elements is my recommendation. It is both affordable and produces excellent output quality. My prior experience with video editing software was that those two were mutually exclusive.

Ben

[olyvtx]

you can find hd video plugin for Windows Movie Maker on the net. It's free and does just about any thing you want for UW video.

[Grateful Diver]

Are you using mac or PC?

PC ... most likely my laptop (Windows 7 with a Core i5 processor and 8G memory) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Grateful Diver]

If you're still using that T2i, it really does good video on land. Anxious to see how you produce your dive vids in the future.

Yup, using the T2i ... it does a great job with video. But so far I've only got the one (shark video) that I did a couple months ago. I just downloaded that one straight to YouTube ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[guitarmaker]

Bob, have you tried "Windows Live Movie Maker"? It comes with new computers with windows 7. I'm shooting a canon g12, using a can light with diffuser, and put this combination of stills and video clips together using only movie maker. It's been a great start for me. The DVD I burned played over my HD 50" tv looks spectacular. You should be able to get incredible results with your skills and rig.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP4Y35c3 ... ture=g-upl

[H20doctor]

you can find hd video plugin for Windows Movie Maker on the net. It's free and does just about any thing you want for UW video.

but movie maker is really hard for cutting and shopping edit cuts... and its slow.. and doesnt have all the codecs for different formats..

[olyvtx]

you can find hd video plugin for Windows Movie Maker on the net. It's free and does just about any thing you want for UW video.

but movie maker is really hard for cutting and shopping edit cuts... and its slow.. and doesnt have all the codecs for different formats..

true that....BUT it's free! And, he may find after a while that video isn't his thing...like i did. I dropped a couple hundred on Pinnacle Studio. I haven't used it in years, deleted from my hdd.

[H20doctor]

you can find hd video plugin for Windows Movie Maker on the net. It's free and does just about any thing you want for UW video.

but movie maker is really hard for cutting and shopping edit cuts... and its slow.. and doesnt have all the codecs for different formats..

true that....BUT it's free! And, he may find after a while that video isn't his thing...like i did. I dropped a couple hundred on Pinnacle Studio. I haven't used it in years, deleted from my hdd.

free is always good , there is a vegas pro HD 11 at target for 45.00... it does everything the expensive versions do

[MikeMeagher]

Used to use adobe premier elements. Then i outgrew its capabilities. Now use Vegas Pro 11 and will be upgrading to ver 12 soon. I love Vegas Pro. It has all the advanced tools such as Scopes and other high end tools. Like all things in life you get what you pay for.

[dewmercer]

I use Adobe Premier CS6. Its very expensive but Adobe has a rental program where you can rent it for a month at a time or for a year with monthly payments. I use Adobe After Effects for colour correction.
Adobe Premier Elements can be had for around $100 at frys. Not sure what it's capabilities are.
The features I use most are
Rendering H.264 720p to a MP4 container
Adjusting the speed of a clip to sync it with music.
Transitions between clips
Removal of underwater audio
Titles

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

[Norris]

I too, recommend Windows Live Movie Maker if you are just starting out. Also, unless your Laptop is pretty beefy, editing HD video will be a pain if you are going to jump into using any Adobe software as they are pretty resource hungry. HD video + high end video apps = lots o' resources.
Windows Movie maker allows you to trim, split, and alter video however the only thing I didnt like about it was sometimes if you have a LONG piece of footage, it takes a while to load into the cache allowing you to edit it.
Good things are, dropping music into the program is a cinch, adding effects and scene segways is simple, and just all around editing is pretty sweet.
Maybe consider using something simple like this for a while until you start learning what you really need. This may help answer any questions you may have before shelling out money for Premier or something like that.

My 2 psi